~ Flu news, Information, Prepardness

Daily Archives: August 25, 2009

Here is what Gratton Woodson MD recommends. You can download his entire free Home Influenza treatment booklet at the link. Perhaps someone will find this useful.-cottontop

The Flu Treatment Kit

Providing good care to family members and friends sick with influenza is a task that will be easier with a good supply of select over-the-counter medications, some medical equipment, and a few items from the grocery or hardware store. These items form the basis of the Flu Treatment Kit (FTK).

Canada has endured the ravages of SARS and the havoc wreaked by a listeriosis outbreak in recent years. Both episodes exposed the glaring shortcomings in our public health protection systems, notably the inability of federal and provincial authorities to seamlessly share information and resources – and act decisively.

Now, with many worried about the spectre of a future Swine flu pandemic, it’s worth asking if we have learned any of the painful lessons of the past. The evidence suggests we are lagging.

At root, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, lacks the autonomy and clout he needs to fulfil his mission to protect the lives of Canadians. Indeed, there’s a very real risk that Canada’s public health watchdog won’t be able to provide a full measure of protection from pandemics and other threats.

Last week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal catalogued some of those gaps, arguing for a “health care czar” to deal with any H1N1 flu pandemic down the road.

Such a czar would go too far; it’s not a good fit in Canada’s complex constitutional setting. But the journal was correct in highlighting a public health gap that must be addressed.

The system’s weakness was painfully apparent in last summer’s bungled listeriosis crisis. Local public health agencies, provincial health ministries and federal health and agriculture officials were all involved in handling that outbreak, but no one assumed full responsibility.

Twenty-two people died. Some might well have been saved if a stronger federal health authority had produced a faster, more coherent response.